In a new interview with Metal Hammer magazine, NIGHTWISH singer Floor Jansen was asked if she had any plans to make another album with the NORTHWARD project, in which she was joined by Jørn Viggo Lofstad, the guitarist of Norwegian band PAGAN’S MIND.
“I’m not sure I will,” she said. “That project was written in 2008. Because we had a year off from NIGHTWISH, I was able to finalize it, to see if the songs are still up to date, whether we could record it or not. I was just happy to have a moment to release it, 10 years after we wrote it. But after 20 years of rock and metal, I think I would like to do something else. I don’t mean stop with NIGHTWISH, but something alongside it.
“I was recently involved in a TV show in my home country in the Netherlands [reality TV show ‘Beste Zangers’, which translates to ‘Best Singers’]. That really inspired me to start writing, and the stuff that has come out is very calm.
“I would love to make an album where less actually is more. Something different — not because I’m bored, but because if you are already in one of the biggest bands in your own genre, and you have someone like Tuomas Holopainen as a songwriter, I don’t really see that I’d be adding anything by making another metal album myself.”
Jansen discussed the prospect of making a solo album during a recent Instagram Live chat. She said: “More and more people have been starting to ask about a solo record, because of the TV program I was with. That made me think about it more, like, would I actually wanna do that? When would I wanna do it? In what style would I wanna do it? And, well, since I am at home more [due to the coronavirus pandemic], I do have more time to write. It doesn’t mean that all of a sudden I’ve become super creative and I know exactly what I want. But it’s lovely to have time to think about that and to see what comes out.”
As for the musical direction of a hypothetical solo album, Jansen said: “I cannot imagine it would be rock or metal — just because rock now I’ve done, and metal I’ve done a lot. And I’m already in one of the best bands, I think, that are out there, in my opinion, to my taste. Plus, if you’re in a band with a songwriter such as Tuomas Holopainen, it’s a little bit hard to come up with something — anything — better, I would say, and I only say that out of love and respect for him. Plus, after 20 years of metal, wouldn’t it be lovely to do something completely different for me? That’s how I feel.
“So, let’s see what comes of this time. I like to keep my freedom in the time frame and in the planning of style and moods. But every now and then, I sit there at my piano, and all of a sudden, things come out. So, let’s see what comes out of this.”
This past May, Jansen released a Dutch-language song called “De Beelden Blijven” which she recorded for the documentary “Kinderen In Oorlog: 75 Jaar Later” in cooperation with War Child.
War Child is an organization that provides education and psychological care for children in conflict zones across the world.
Before joining NIGHTWISH in 2012, Jansen served as the vocalist in the Dutch bands AFTER FOREVER and REVAMP.
NIGHTWISH‘s ninth studio album, “Human. :II: Nature.”, was released on April 10 via Nuclear Blast. The long-awaited follow-up to “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” is a double album containing nine tracks on the main CD and one long track, divided into eight chapters on CD 2.
